Allison Janney

Being a Brit born after the events that take place in the film, I knew nothing about Tonya Harding until I saw the first trailer for this film. I’m not a particularly big figure skating fan, or someone who watches the Olympic every year. The subject matter of the movie, couldn’t be further from my interests. Lucky for me then, that none of that matters. In the same way that Rocky isn’t really about the boxing, this is a sports biopic way more interested in the characters than the actual sport. This is helped largely through the talking heads interviews, where if a character says they were the best figure skater in the world, you believe them, without the film having to put too much effort in showing you. The fact that these talking heads are wildly untrustworthy is all part of the films fun.

The film is based on interviews with Tonya Harding, and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, played respectively by Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan. They have too very different points of view about what happened in their time together, and the film does its best to piece together a cohesive narrative which incorporates them all. It’s the story of how Tonya Harding came through an abusive relationship with her mum, LaVona, played by Allison Janney, and perhaps an abusive husband, to become one of the best figure skaters in America, on her way to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Her life is turned upside down when her husband Jeff intervenes, and one of her competitors, Nancy Kerrigan is the victim of an assault.

I really enjoyed I, Tonya. It’s the kind of all absorbing movie you can just lean back and fall in love with. The film does a great job of building this time and place, early 90’s Portland, and placing you slap bang in the middle of it. The production design is great, the choice of music is toe-tappingly good, and it’s filled with characters you want to know more about. The Scorsese-esque direction and editing lends the film a kinetic energy, at least for the first 2/3rds of the movie, which propels you along the story at such a pace it’s impossible to get bored. The pace also comes with a light touch in direction, the film is incredibly funny even when dealing with darker subject matter. The performances are universally good as well. It’s nice to see Sebastian Stan shine away from the Marvel franchise, and Allison Janney is great, although with all the hype surrounding her performance I thought her role would have been a bit more demanding. The true standout here is Margot Robbie, producing here as well as starring, it’s a knockout performance which cements her place as a true female lead. It speaks to both the neutral approach that Gillespie took in directing the film, and Robbie’s performance that you can’t help but feel sympathy for Tonya by the end, even though the events that took place were so morally reprehensible.

I think the reason I liked the film so much, is that it’s not really about figure skating. It’s a film that explores the ideas of truth. The talking heads being interviewed, agree on certain aspects of events, but disagree wildly on others. Tonya says Jeff was abusive towards her, and Jeff says he never hit her. The film is called I, Tonya though so we see everything through Tonya’s point of view, which in this case means we see Jeff being constantly abusive, and we cut to him telling us this is all false. This style though is used to point the finger at us, and our obsession with celebrity culture, and the 24hr news cycle. It asks us to question believing everything we are told. The film also explores themes of class, Harding is an unapologetic red neck, trying to compete in a world which is all about appearance and class. In one emotional scene we are told she won’t make the Olympics because the board want her to have a wholesome American family. Heartbreakingly she asks why it can’t just be about the skating, the irony is that it’s her viewership draw that allows her to go to the Olympics.

The film does falter a little bit after “the incident” takes place. It loses some of its pace, and starts to drag a little bit. Like a lot movies, this film could have lost half an hour of its runtime. We also see Margot Robbie taking a lot of abuse, which obviously has the intention of normalising the violence for the audience in the same way the abuse became normal for her, but I felt it was a little over done. The film does present us with the idea that it’s showing all the sides to the story, but it largely leans into supporting Tonya Harding, not necessarily supporting what happened, but being behind her as a person. We generally hear from people who like Tonya, even Jeff comes across as remorseful. There’s a reason we don’t get a Nancy Kerrigan talking head.

I enjoyed I, Tonya a lot. It’s a kinetic, fast paced biopic, which made me interested in an event and a sport which I had no previous interest in. It’s filled with memorable characters, and great performances. Janney is getting all the press, but it’s Robbie’s film from start to finish. It’s a film which sets out to explore the truth, but you can’t help but feel manipulated by it. It’s stylish, fun, and well put together. You just have to take everything with a grain of salt.

Last night saw the Royal Albert Hall play host to the 71st Annual British Academy Film Awards, or as they are most commonly know, the BAFTA’S. Although not as coveted as the OSCAR’s, the BAFTA’s are the biggest night in film this side of the Atlantic. Of course, all awards are rather trivial, a chance for the industry to pat themselves on the back, but they are still incredibly important. It’s a great chance to celebrate the previous year in film, and to bring attention to some amazing work that might otherwise go un-noticed. Your favourite film might not win, or even get nominated, which is always frustrating and you could spend your time moaning about this, but where’s the fun in that. Here we will go through all of last nights big winners.

Best Film

I’ll admit that I’ve only seen three out of these five movies, but out of the films on this list that I had seen, Three Billboards was a well deserved winner. Dunkirk was great, but maybe lacked the emotional resonance to really compete. The Shape Of Water was also fantastic, for me it was a close race between this and Three Billboards.

Outstanding British Film

Three Billboards won again, which makes complete sense that the best film would also be the best British film. Personally, I would have loved to have seen Paddington 2 pick up the award, but there are some great films on this list. All worth a watch.

Best Animated Film

Coco
Loving Vincent
My Life As A Courgette

I loved Coco. It’s another well deserved win. The other two movies are definitely worth checking out, but Pixar are maintaining their dominance over this category. Hopefully, one day they’ll recognise them as the Best Picture.

Best Documentary

City Of GhostsI Am Not Your Negro
Icarus
An inconvenient Sequel
Jane

I haven’t seen any of these. I love my documentaries, but I usually wait until after awards season to check out the best the year had to offer.

Best Director

The Shape Of Water may have missed out on Best Film, but Guillermo picked up his Best Directors award, in a pattern I think will be repeated at the OSCAR’s. The Shape Of Water is a beautifully directed movie, and Guillermo is one of our most unique directors. Nolan must be thinking that he’s another Scorsese, on of the best directors of his time, but never recognised during awards season.

Best Actor

This was the biggest non-surprise of the night. They’re all great performances, but there was only ever one winner here. Gary Oldman continues his winning streak with his portrayal of Winston Churchill. It’s a shame though that these award ceremonies are okay with the make-up used to enhance Oldman’s performance, but are yet to recognise Andy Serkis’ mo-cap assisted performances.

Best Actress

When the nominations came out, I thought this might have been the closest run category. The performances here are all fantastic, but McDormand delivers a tour-de-force performance which can’t help but grab all the attention.

Again, no real surprises here. Some may have been hoping for an upset with Willem Defoe snatching it, but that would have meant some people actually saw The Florida Project. Sam Rockwell has been great for ages, and it’s nice to see him getting recognised.

Best Supporting Actress

Heading into awards season, it seemed that this was a two horse race between Allison Janney, and Laurie Metcalf, but it seems now that Janney is set to sweep the board. Best known for her role in The West Wing, it’s great to see another fabulous character actor get some accolades.

Best Original Screenplay

Whilst we would have all loved to see Get Out win some awards, it’s clear to see that Three Billboards is the most showy screenplay in this category. It’s full of fantastic dialogue, and deals with complex issues. This was the hardest category of the night for me, as they’re all great.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Call Me By Your Name
The Death Of Stalin
Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool
Molly’s Game
Paddington 2

I haven’t seen Call Me By Your Name Yet, and I did really enjoy Molly’s Game, but Paddington 2 should have won.

That’s it for the main categories of the night. It was a predictable night, and I’m hoping for a few more upsets at the OSCAR’s. Three Billboards was the big winner, and now seems most likely for Best Picture at the OSCAR’s, although The Shape Of Water might have something to say about that.

Below you can find the list of all the other winners. Special mention to Daniel Kaluuya for his EE Rising Star Award, and Ridley Scott for his Fellowship.

EE Rising Star: Daniel Kaluuya
Best Original Music: The Shape Of Water
Best Make Up And Hair: Darkest Hour
Best Costume Design: Phantom Thread
Best Editing: Baby Driver
Outstanding British Contribution To Film: National Film and Television School
Best British Short Animation: Poles Apart
Best British Short Film: Cowboy Dave
Best Film Not In The English Language: The Handmaiden
Best Production Design: The Shape Of Water
Best Special Visual Effects: Blade Runner 2049
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: I Am Not A Witch
Best Sound: Dunkirk
Best Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049
BAFTA Fellowship: Ridley Scott